The Travel Channel has changed hands a few times and the current owners decided to cash in on the Bourdain brand. Turns out his contracts have explicitly prohibited this, so I'm not sure who burned the bridge

ChrisDe:Anthony Bourdain would like you to know that he is smarter, better-looking, more edgy and ironic than you will ever be.

He also has a hotter wife, has a better job, makes more money, travels more, has more interesting friends, drives better cars, eats better food, lives in a better part of the country and generally is funnier and more entertaining.YMMV

The Travel Channel sucks now, we used to watch it all the time but now they just completely suck, I can't even tell you what's on any longer. TV used to be constantly on them but now we just watch old reruns of rick steives or when the DVR decides to record his new episodes, well at least ones we have never watched.

red5ish:ChrisDe: Anthony Bourdain would like you to know that he is smarter, better-looking, more edgy and ironic than you will ever be.

He also has a hotter wife, has a better job, makes more money, travels more, has more interesting friends, drives better cars, eats better food, lives in a better part of the country and generally is funnier and more entertaining.YMMV

Don't forget the coke. The piles and piles of coke that he has done more of than you

born_yesterday:I like that he appreciates both a fine meal at a fancy restaurant, and a greasy snack from some guy with a food cart.

This. I personally loved the Czech episode for multiple reasons: The Czechs love to drink (it's in our blood) and he doesn't stand down to taking shots of slivovitz, he ate at nice restaurants and the carts (I liked how the guide guy was thinking, "wtf? dude, it's fried cheese with mayo on a walmart bun... why are you still eating these? THAT'S YOUR 4TH SAUSAGE, STOP!") and then goes and mingles with the locals and their homemade food (getting drunk at 8am while watching a pig get slaughtered and then tasting everything that was made from the hog and seemingly loving it). That episode alone was enough for me to look into and start cooking food that my ancestors would have made. (I'm Hungarian, Serbian, and Slovakian. Before all the border restructuring, Prague would have been roughly where my ancestors were from) And the best part is that the food is damn amazing. If it weren't for his show and him showing not just how awesome Prague looks as a city but also how cultural food impacts a region, I wouldn't have ever considered trying more ethnic and diverse foods and for that I thank him.